User Manual

Technical Specification Sheet
Rev. 6, March 2016
Document No. 149-020
Page 1 of 2
InfoCenter Suite OPC Client
Description
OLÉ for Process Control (OPC) is a standard protocol
for data exchange championed by the process control
industry in partnership with Microsoft. Its primary
advantages are: it uses fast Ethernet® TCP/IP message
transportation and it leverages popular Microsoft
Windows client/server technology and the Component
Object Model (COM and Distributed COM) software
architecture. OPC can provide a useful bridge, acting as
an effective data exchange tool between the process
control, the IT, and the building automation worlds.
InfoCenter Suite® supports an OPC Client option. This
option allows InfoCenter Suite to dynamically receive
data from OPC servers. As an OPC Client, InfoCenter
Suite effectively becomes a “trending” device for data.
InfoCenter Suite continually monitors the Ethernet for
defined OPC servers and collects information on
predefined points. Information collection can occur when
the OPC server broadcasts a Change-of-Value (COV) or
InfoCenter Suite can poll the OPC servers for point
values at regular intervals.
The InfoCenter Suite OPC Client supports concurrent
access of up to five (5) OPC servers. The client is
specifically designed to receive data from the Insight
OPC server, thus reducing data trending requirements
and providing InfoCenter Suite with real-time data.
Benefits
Software-based integration using OPC brings together
powerful process control data, power monitoring data,
and business software, together with the building control
information of APOGEE® Automation System. Bringing
the third–party data into InfoCenter Suite allows data
management for process control, power monitoring,
business systems data and building control systems
data to reside in a single management platform. This
provides marked advantages in reduced operating costs,
reduced training and increased employee productivity,
as well as powerful data management, reporting, and
compliance support. When used with the APOGEE
Automation System, the InfoCenter OPC Client option
can significantly reduce data trending requirements.
Keys to Success
If integrating to a third-party system, a good working
relationship with the local third-party operator
workstation field office or representative is vital to the
project’s success. In addition, a thorough understanding
of the Windows environment is necessary for effective
implementation and maintenance.
Networking
The architecture for InfoCenter Suite data collection
using OPC consists of the InfoCenter Suite OPC Client
option, and an OPC server residing in a third-party
operator workstation or Insight with the OPC server
option. Communication between an OPC server and the
InfoCenter Suit OPC Client is via Ethernet TCP/IP.